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Old December 28, 2011, 01:24 PM   #3
Mike Irwin
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Join Date: April 13, 2000
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 41,374
It's not military. It's a cap lock (they're called percussion caps, blasting caps are FAR more powerful and used to set off dynamite). From the looks of it it should be a rifle given the double triggers. The rifling may just be hard to see.

The "shield" on the stock with the compartmnet is either a grease box or a patch box for storing either grease for patches, or for storing a supply of pre greased patches.

The greased patch went around the ball and sealed the bore. The grease also helped soften powder fouling, giving more shots between cleanings.

It appears that there is some lettering on the lock plate around the hammer. Knowing what that is would help to identify the rifle.

Finally, I'm going to move this to the blackpowder section. A lot of knowledgeable people over there may have a better idea as to what you have.
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